Swordtember 2025 (Part 2)

Part 2 of Neo Retro Union's Swordtember Special. Click here for Part 1.

If a sword based on Pac-Man existed, it would have been called a Pac-Sword. The hilt would have a cross guard that resembles Pac-Man, and the pommel would have been based on the power pellets that makes ghosts vulnerable to getting eaten up by Pac-Man. This makes the Pac-Sword the Bladed Bane of Ghosts.

The Lionheart is a Two-handed Sword that can be equipped by Warriors that are Level 35 and above with 115 Strength, while the Neocora is a One-handed Sword that can be equipped by Warriors that are Level 60 and above with 180 Strength. Both swords come from MapleStory.

A Beacon Of Hope Amid Traumas

Who would have thought Nintendo launched Super Mario Bros during the turbulent times when Japan was grieving from the worst single-aircraft accident in aviation history and North America was still reeling from the 1983 Video Game Crash?

Did you know that Nintendo's Super Mario Bros was released during a time when Japan was in a period of mourning? The game that gave us Goombas, Warp Pipes, Super Mushrooms and Fire Flowers was released 32 days after the Japan Airlines Flight 123 Crash that resulted from an improper tailstrike repair procedure in 1978. The launch of Super Mario Bros could not have come at a time when Japan and North America were going through periods of severe trauma...

Happy 40th Anniversary, Super Mario Bros!

Super Mario Bros © Nintendo.

In Loving Memory of Maru the Cat

Sad news for all who love to watch cat videos on YouTube. Maru the Cat died on the 6th of September, 2025. With his death, a glorious era of cat videos rides into the sunset.

Since his birth in 2007, Maru the Cat has always been with us even in the darkest of times such as the 2011 East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami as well as the plague year that was 2020. Throughout his entire life, he proved that claustrophobia is not in his vocabulary by stuffing himself into tiny cardboard boxes. This made his cat videos so popular that he was listed on the Guinness World Records for being the most watched cat on YouTube in 2016.

Farewell, Maru. You were the very definition of the "If I fits, I sits" meme before it became mainstream.

Swordtember 2025 (Part 1)

Hey, folks! I have decided to jump on board the Swordtember bandwagon, so here is a comic about swords.

Remember that comic about the Glass Swords from Uncle Grandpa? Well, the Glass Sword returns for a mandatory Swordtember comic, and this time, it does not get broken.

Do you still remember the sword from the original RuneScape logo? If you still remember it from the early days of RuneScape, then you have nostalgia for a bygone era!

Did you know that bronze turns green after oxidation? This process creates a protective layer called a patina, which protects the underlying metal from further corrosion.

The Forgotten Jaleco Logo

Did you know that Jaleco had a red logo from 2010 until Game Yarou's bankruptcy in 2014? It only appeared on the box art of WiZmans World for the Nintendo DS, and in a trailer for a port of Rod Land that DotEmu made for iOS. This version of the Jaleco logo was very obscure because WiZmans World never left Japan, and the iOS port of Rod Land was so mediocre that it was better off all but forgotten, just like some of the below average ports Rod Land had in the early 1990s.

Sadly, the red logo Jaleco had during the company's final years was all but forgotten because it became a reminder of Jaleco's last days before Game Yarou went bankrupt due to the ¥700000000 debt it took from Encom Holdings when it acquired Jaleco from them. The huge debt proved to be far too much for Game Yarou to repay, and they ended up having to file for bankruptcy in 2014 as a result. This in turn led to City Connection, a company named after one of Jaleco's games, acquiring Jaleco's IPs, including WiZmans World. City Connection gave WiZmans World a HD remaster, and the game was re-released in Japan in 2025 as WiZmans World Re;Try.

They Never Surrendered...

Today marks the 80th Anniversary of Japan signing the surrender papers that officially ended World War 2. However, the real truth about the Japanese surrender has been revealed. Yet we chose to deny that truth for the past 80 years because we did not want to be confrontational...

Contrary to popular belief, nowhere was the word "surrender" mentioned in the Japanese surrender message that ended World War 2. This explains why the rogue tyrants that dislike us a lot are very angry right now, as well as why major Japanese copyright holders such as Nintendo, Square Enix, Sony and Toei are waging copyright lawfare against Fair Use, the lack of justice in anime and manga (I'm looking at you, Pokemon!), and the bullying that has rarely been punished, if at all. This can only mean one thing.

Japan never really surrendered despite signing the surrender papers that ended World War 2...

Sometimes I wonder if my love for Japanese pop culture is gone. Perhaps it's because I believe that justice can only be done if evildoers receive the ultimate comeuppance, and anime has rarely ended with true justice prevailing at the end. Maybe it's time for us to sacrifice our nostalgia for the glorious past if we want to create a brighter future where justice prevails and true harmony is a reality...

Dropping Like Flies

The deaths of Connie Francis and Hulk Hogan came at a time when our world is going through a period of turbulence and turmoil. With bad news coming faster than hypersonic missiles, looks like 2025 is turning out to be another Annus Horribilis...

Connie Francis was best known for the song "Where The Boys Are", which has been associated with being the theme song of the film "Where The Boys Are". This made Connie Francis the voice of a generation and the soundtrack of post-war America. Unfortunately, her later years were very unkind to her. In 1974, she was almost killed by an assault incident. Then in 1981, her brother was assassinated for standing up against organized crime. Despite several comebacks and winning a lawsuit that resulted in tougher hotel security, Connie Francis had to do battle against depression until her death on the 16th of July, 2025. Not to mention that she revealed her truth about the entertainment industry several months before her death...

Hulk Hogan (Real Name: Terry Bollea) is a wrestler who needs no introduction whatsoever. During the 2024 US Presidential Election Campaign, this WWE Hall of Famer called for the restoration of Donald Trump to the White House, which actually happened as a result of Donald Trump winning the 2024 US Presidential Election, resulting in Donald Trump beginning his Grover Cleveland Arc. Unfortunately, several months after the start of Donald Trump's Grover Cleveland Arc, Hulk Hogan died from a heart attack on the 24th of July, 2025, and WWE fans were left in mourning as a result.

With all that said, time is short, and it serves as a reminder of the fragility of life itself. At least Connie Francis is now in a better place just like Shelley Duvall.